Variable-speed gear



P. A. AMUNDSON. VARIABLE SPEED GEAR. APPLICATION FILED FEB. I. I92I.

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2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

. I hw A Ubillffl@ arri PETER ALVIN AMUNDSON, OF OCONOIVIOWOC,WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF T0 THOMAS ANDREW AMUNDSON, OFOCONOMOWOC, W'ISCONSIN.

VARIABLE-SPEED GEAR.

g vApplication led February To all whom t may concern:

v Be it known that I, PETER ALviN AMUND- soN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and resident of Oconomowoc, in the county of Waukesha and Stateof gvVisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inVariable-Speed Gears; and l do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description thereof.

1 My invention refers to variable speed gear mechanism, and it has forits primary ob* ject to provide a simple, economical and positive ymeansfor selectively varying the forward speed and reverse withoutdisconnecting the mesh gear train, by longitudinally shifting a keyunit, whereby the gears are selectively locked in driving connection.rlhus by thisarrangement l have overcome the objectionable feature ofthe ordinary type of gear shift, wherein jamming or stripping of thegears frequently results. My invention also contemplates dispensingwiththe usual form of toothed clutches, which are used incertain typesof speed gears, whereby complications in the shifts will result.

Another objectof my invention is to provide companion shafts, one ofwhich has rigidly secured` thereto a series of gears, while the othershaft has a reverse series of gears loosely mounted thereon providedwith hubs having circular recesses connected'by key-ways, 'adapted toco-operate with a longitudinally, shiftable key for selectively varyingthe speed desired, in a step-by-step action, or whereby the key may beshifted to obtain' a reverse drive through an idle gear connecting acompanion gear set, it being understood that the companion gears areconstantly in mesh.

With the above and other minor objects in view, the invention consistsin certain peculiarities of construction and combination of parts, asare hereinafter set forth with reference to the accompanying drawingsand subsequently claimed.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 represents a sectional elevation of a 4variable speed gearembodying the features of my invention, the section being .indicated byline'l-l of Figure 2.

Figure 2 is a cross section of the same, the

Specicaton of Letters Patent.

Patented July 11, 1922.

journals for a drive shaft 2, and a driven shaft 3, one of the bearingsl of the driven shaft being offset from the body of the casing as shownin Figure l. The drive shaft l has keyed or otherwise rigidly securedthereto a train of toothed gears 4, 5 and 6, which are progressivelyincreased in diameter. Said shaft has also secured thereto a reversedrive gear wheel 7 which is meshed with an idle gear wheel 8 that ismounted on a stud 8 secured to one wall of the housing. The idle gearwheel 8, as best shown in Figure 2, is meshed with a gear wheel 9 thatis loosely mounted upon the driven shaft 3, the same being held againstend play between the juxtaposed wall of the housing and the face of thebearing l. Loosely mounted between the bearing l and the opposite innerface of the housing is a companion set of reverse, progressively, in-

creasing in size, set of gear wheels 6', 5 4,

the smaller gear wheel 6 being meshed with the larger gear wheel 6, theintermediate gear wheel 5 being meshed with the inter mediate gear wheel5, and the larger diame- -ter gear wheel 4 being meshed with thesmallest gear wheel of the other series 4. The gear wheels 6 to linclusive are each provided with hubs 10, l1 and l2, the end `faces ofwhich hubs are in abutting relations and are formed with internalrecesses 10', ll and 12. Each of the hub recesses is intersected by oneor more longitudinally disposed keyways 18, 14 and l5 respectively. Thedriven shaft 3 carries a key 16 at an intermediate point, which key,together with the shaft 3, is arranged to be moved longitudinally forselectively engaging the keyways of the gear wheels a', 5 and 6.

. The shaft 3 is also provided near its end with a key 16', which key isadapted to engage a keyway 17 in the hub of the reverse drive gearwhe'el 9. This key 16, together with the shaft end, is arranged totravel longitudinally through an opening 1" formed in the juxtaposedside wall of the casing. A circular recess 1"' is formed in the oppositeinner wall of the housing for the reception of the key 11 when thedriven shaft is shifted to its extreme position forreversed drive,

inV which position, as shown in Figure 1 ofv the drawings,` the key 16'of the shaft is in locking engagement with the reverse gear wheel 9, andhence, the parts, as shown, are positioned to deliver a reversed drivefrom the main shaft 2 to the driven shaft 3.

It will be observed that the hub recesses of the loosely mounted seriesof gears together form housings or pockets for the reception of the key16, whereby the key, when nested in any one of these series of pockets,will place the Yjuxtaposed gears in neutral position and they are freetoy revolve idly upon the driven shaft 3.

As exemplifying one way of shifting the key'or keys, Figure 1illustrates a ring 1S which is loosely mounted between a pair of collars19 that are'seeured to the shaft 3. They spanner ring 18 is providedwithstuds which are adapted to engage the slotted end 2O of a pivotedcontrolling lever 21, and the coupling end of the driven shaft issquared,

as shown at 22, for slip drive connection with the end of Va jack shaft23. Thus it will be seen that the shaft 3 can be moved longi@ tudinallyby manually operating the .lever 21,

but it will always maintain a driving connection with reference to thejack shaft. A detent 24 is diametrically illustrated in con nection withthe lever 21, the said detent being provided with arbitrarily arrangedsymbols, whereby the operator Vcan readily determine movement of thelever to obtain a predetermined speed of the driven shaft, or todetermine the position of shifting said lever when it is desired toobtain a reversed drive'l Y From the foregoing description, it isobvious that when the parts are in position, as shownV in Figure 1,should the operator desire to shiftrfrom reverse drive to low forwardspeed, he will move the lever as indicated by the detent from reverse tofirst. In effecting this movement, it will be noted that the key 16 willpass through the hub recess 12', and when the keyways 15 come intoregister vwith the key, the same can be slipped into first speed byentering said keyway, and thus locking the gear wheel a'. It followsthat should the operator desire to increase the speed of the drive, thelever is VVmoved toward second speed and in traveling lock the gearwheel 5', and this same movevkeyway 16 will disconnect the reverse drivewheel 9so that the Areverse speed becomes Vidle priorto locking thewheels for effecting `the forward drive.i

Obviously I may, without departing from the spirit of my invention,operate the keys step-by-step by various mechanical arrangements foreffectingl the desired result, as forV example, the` keysV may bemountedupon a rod extending through a central bored aperf ture of theshaft 3, and this rod could be shifted without any longitudinal movementof the'drive shaft; i

Figure t illustrates va yieldable keylf,7 Y associated with` the shaft3; Inthis form, A

the key extends through a slot 25 of the shaft and said key is mountedupon a plunger 26 which is journaled for longitudinal movement in acentral aperture formed in the shaft. This aperture to one side of theVkey i i is counterbored for the reception ofa coil spring 26', whichis' interposed between the face of the counter-bore and one wall of thekey 16'. Hence, with this arrangement when it is desired to shift, forexample,

from neutral or reverse to first speed, the operator can shift the lever21 vdirectly from the point of reverse to first speed, and should thekeyway Ynot be in register with the key when this movement took place,the key 16' will abut the baseof the hub recess 12' and be held underspring tension until'such ltime as the keyway 15 comes in register withythe`key, whereby the spring will cause the key to effect instantaneouslock engagement. Thus it will be seen that the Vlever can be shifted thefull movement and locked in V this position, whereby theV intermeshedgears will be automatically locked when the keyway comes into correctposition. Y

While I have shown and described certain means forspecifically carryingout my invention, it is understood that I may vary Vthe structuralfeaturesy within a fair interpretation of the claim.

Iclain1:`,l v.

A variable speed gear .comprising a driven shaft, said driven shafthaving a transverse recess and a central,longitudinal recess, a

plurality of gears on the drive shaft, a longitudinal, continuous keyfor said gears rigid with saidV shaft, a pluralityV of gears on thedriven shaft provided with circular recesses and longitudinal slots, akey on said driven shaft reciprocable in said transverse recess, aplunger rigid with said'key mounted in said longitudinal'recess, and aspring urging said slot, a stud, a gear wheel on said stud PETER ALVINAMUNDSON.

said key rearwardly in said transverse remeshing with said reverse gearand one of cess, said key extending from said driven said gears on saiddriven shaft.

shaft so as to engage with the longitudinal In testimony that I Claimthe foregoing I 10 slot of each gear selectively7 a reverse gear havehereunto set my hand at Milwaukee, in on said driven shaft provided witha slot7 the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisa key on said drivenshaft for engaging in consin.

